Additional Resources

This section contains a collection of additional information, related to both constituency boundaries, as well as local Fine Gael political party structures, in County Cavan. If you have any suggestions for additional information to be included here, you can email them to admin (at) cavanfinegael.ie.

List of Contents

Boundary Maps & Resources

The work of setting the electoral boundaries for the country is the responsibility of two organisations, the Boundary Committee and the Constituency Commission. The Boundary Committee is responsible for the drawing of boundaries for local elections, while the Constituency Commission deals with the drawing of boundaries for Dáil and European Parliament elections.

As all three types of the electoral boundaries affecting County Cavan (Local, Dáil, and European) have recently been adjusted, a list of resources is included here for reference.

Local Boundaries

The most recent report by the Boundary Committee was published on the 30th of May, 2013, and can be found here. The recommendations of this report, implemented for the most recent local elections on the 23rd May 2014, saw a number of substantial changes for the County:

the redrawing of the Local Electoral Areas, with the previous 4 districts of Bailieborough, Ballyjamesduff, Belturbet, and Cavan being replaced by 3 new districts: Bailieborough - Cootehill, Ballyjamesduff, and Cavan - Belturbet.

the abolition of the Cavan, Cootehill, and Belturbet town councils, and;

the reduction in the number of county councillors from 25 to 18.

A picture of the new Local Electoral Areas can be viewed on the Councillors page; unfortunately, a larger image can't be displayed on this site for copyright reasons, but can be viewed on page 26 of the aforementioned report, while a map of the old Local Electoral Areas for Cavan can be seen on page 159.

Dáil Electoral Boundaries

The most recent report on Dáil Electoral Boundaries by the Constituency Commission was was presented to the Chairman of the Dáil on the 21st of June, 2012, and can be found here. The recommendations of this report, to be implemented for the next general election, will see the Cavan-Monaghan constituency reduced from a 5 seat to a 4 seat constituency, with part of West Cavan being transferred to the Sligo-Leitrim constituency. Maps of the altered Sligo-Leitrim, and Cavan-Monaghan constituencies can be found respectively on pages 24-25, and page 26 of the report.

European Parliament Boundaries

The most recent report on European Parliament Boundaries by the Constituency Commission was was presented to the Chairman of the Dáil on the 25th of September, 2013, and can be found here. Cavan's previous constituency, North-West, was amalgamated with parts of the East constituency to form Midlands–North-West, an image of which can be seen on the MEPs page. This new constituency consists of the counties of Cavan, Donegal, Galway, Kildare, Laois, Leitrim, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, and Westmeath.

County & Constituency Structures

As mentioned elsewhere, the most basic unit of Fine Gael is the Local Branch. Local branches are usually based on the parish, though, in some cases where a parish has a large population or size, there can be several branches based in different areas of that single parish; this was more common in decades past, where the level of transport options we have today didn't exist. In other cases, a branch might cover two parishes. In our case, there are currently 46 local branches of Fine Gael in County Cavan, as well as a county-wide branch of young Fine Gael.

The next step up from the local branch is the District Executive. These district executives are based on the Local Electoral Areas (LEAs), outlines above; in the case of County Cavan, there are currently three of these LEAs: Bailieborough - Cootehill, Ballyjamesduff, and Cavan - Belturbet. These district executives meet less frequently than party branches, being more active in the run up to local elections.

Lastly, come the County Executive, and the Constituency Executive, the difference being that the former deals with Cavan, while the latter deals with both Cavan and Monaghan. These executives have a number of functions, including to represent and co-ordinate the activities of branches, and organise campaigns in in the county, and constituency, respectively.